The Value-Added Tax (VAT) or sales tax is a broadly based consumption tax assessed on the value added to goods and services. A particular VAT applies to most goods and services that are bought or sold within a given country or state. When a person travels abroad and makes a purchase that requires paying a VAT (or any applicable tax), that person may be entitled to a subsequent refund of the VAT for the purchase. Other taxes applied to purchases may similarly be refunded under particular circumstances. Further, sellers may offer rebates for purchases of products sold in certain locations and under particular circumstances. Such refunds of the purchase price may be reclaimed by following procedures established by the refunding entity.
The laws and regulations of many countries allow foreign travelers the right for reimbursement or a refund of certain taxes such as, e.g., VATs paid for goods and/or services abroad. As such laws and regulations are different from one country to another, determination of the actual VAT refunds that one is entitled to receive often requires that the seeker of the refund possess a vast amount of knowledge in the area of tax laws abroad. Moreover, travelers may seek refunds for VATs when they are not entitled to such refunds, thereby spending time and effort on a fruitless endeavor. Further, availability of the VAT refund may vary based on the type of purchase made and the presence of a qualified VAT receipt.
One procedure to request a refund is to physically approach a customs official at an airport, fill out a form, and file the original receipts respective of the expenses incurred during the visit. This procedure should be performed prior to checking in or boarding to the next destination. Additionally, particularly with respect to goods purchased abroad, the procedure to request a refund may require that the payer show the unused goods to a custom official to verify that the goods being exported match the goods that the payer paid VATs on.
As travelers are not familiar with specific laws and regulations for claiming a refund, the travelers may submit a claim for a refund even though they are not eligible. This procedure further unnecessarily wastes time if the traveler ultimately learns that he or she is not entitled to a refund. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution that would overcome the deficiencies of the prior art by providing an effective way to handle VAT refunds electronically and, preferably, over the Internet.
Furthermore, due to the hassles associated with claiming refunds and, in particular, VAT refunds, customers may not be motivated to seek such refunds. Particularly with respect to potentially large refunds, properly managed refunding platforms may be crucial for saving money. As an example, a VAT refunding platform may be important to large enterprises requiring their employees to travel for business purposes. Due to the massive amount of invoices generated by a typical enterprise, many of which may be eligible for VAT refunds, enterprises may be prone to errors during collection and verification of invoices.
Additionally, the large numbers of invoices generated by a typical enterprise ultimately results in creation of a multitude of files corresponding to the invoices. Existing solutions typically require that each invoice is contained in a separate file and, consequently, require individual scanning or otherwise capturing of each invoice. Such manual individual scanning wastes time and resources, and ultimately subject the process to more potential for human error.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution that would overcome the deficiencies of the prior art.